As arrests and incarcerations decline, county will put greater emphasis on prevention, intervention
East County News Service
September 15, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--A major decrease in juvenile arrests and detentions has caused significant savings for the county, and now government officials are looking to transfer money into services that help keep young people out of serious trouble. In 2009, 5,000 juveniles were under supervision, but now there are approximately 2,100. Detention rates have had a similar decline, down from 842 to 438, said Ron Lane, deputy chief administrative officer.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to transfer this savings to training for law enforcement officers dealing with young offenders, increased mental health services, and a program that helps stop juvenile family violence.
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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, By Michelle Alexander (The New Press, New York, N.Y., 2010, 290 pages.)
Book Review by Dennis Moore
October 8, 2010 (San Diego) -- Michelle Alexander, former director of the Racial Justice Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Northern California and a former law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court, has written a provocative and thought-provoking book about race and incarceration, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
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By the Judicial Reform Commitee, United African-American Ministerial Action Council
October 10, 2009 (San Diego)--The much ballyhooed Three Strikes laws have had a negligible impact on states' imprisoned populations since its enactment, with the notable exceptions of California, Florida, and Georgia.* For most states and the federal government, Three Strikes' enactment appears to have been "much ado about nothing.” Their 1998 analysis of Three Strikes laws points out why this should come as no surprise -- every one of the states that enacted Three Strikes laws already had existing repeat offender laws on the books; for many of those states, the change affected by Three Strikes was marginal.
The exceptional impact is in California, the only state in which any felony offense can trigger a Three Strikes sentence. California Department of Corrections data report that nearly two-thirds (65%) of those sentenced under California's Three Strikes laws are imprisoned for nonviolent offenses.
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On Thursday, October 22, the Judicial Reform Committee of the United African-American Ministerial Action Council (UAAMAC) will host a town hall meeting on Califiornia’s three strikes law to encourage a change in sentencing practices. Panelists will include Karen Bass, Speaker of the Assembly, Assembly member Lori Saldana (D-San Diego), Bishop George D. McKinney, Frank Courser and Sue Reams, Families to Amend California Three Strikes.
"In these trying economic times. it is imperative that we examine these laws,” UAAMAC’s press release states. California's Three Strikes Law is the toughest law in the nation; California incarcerates four times more inmates as all other three strikes states combined. Supporters of the laws note that a small percentage of offenders are responsible for the majority of crimes. But a growing number of people now argue that California's law has gone too far, locking up not only violent repeat criminals, but also imposing life sentences on people guilty of nonviolent offenses such as shoplifting.
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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, By Michelle Alexander (The New Press, New York, N.Y., 2010, 290 pages.)
By the Judicial Reform Commitee, United African-American Ministerial Action Council
On Thursday, October 22, the Judicial Reform Committee of the United African-American Ministerial Action Council (UAAMAC) will host a town hall meeting on Califiornia’s three strikes law to encourage a change in sentencing practices. Panelists will include Karen Bass, Speaker of the Assembly, Assembly member Lori Saldana (D-San Diego), Bishop George D. McKinney, Frank Courser and Sue Reams, Families to Amend California Three Strikes.
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